"You look new." Analisa says.

Her voice like an alarm, jolting me from the quiet self-preserve mood I buried myself in all morning. "Hm?" I gaze up to her reflection in the mirror, she stands aside my chair with her manicured fingers gripping her hips while she peers down to my eyes suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

"You look new." she shrugs apathetically with her bottom lip pouting. "Fresh. Glowing. Regenerated." she listed as she leaned down, puckering her lips to add another layer of nude gloss, when the lids of her eyes parted wildly in a dawning realization.

"Wait." She gasps sharply, freezing like a mannequin, the strawberry scent of her cherry gloss fans down at my head by the blow of her breath. "Did Philip and you ..."

I knew what she implied by the eager look in her eyes, they were widened to saucers but treaded lightly on finishing her words, in case of any wondering figures on the outside of the door.

"Not yet." I shrugged.

"Hmm, really?" she cocks her head, crooking a brow.

My lips pout, and I shrug again. "Yep, he hasn't even brought it up."

"Then why are you smiling?"

And with that, I felt the Cheshire smile that burns my cheeks, and gazed at my reflection in the mirror. I sat here for more than thirty minutes and never noticed the glow in my eyes, or the red of my nose as I blushed away. Holy hell. Has this been glued onto my face all morning?

I realized I left her question hanging on a thread, but she never turned away. I clear a grovel in my throat forcing the smile to recede. The pain it left behind lingers on the corners of my temple and I massage my mandible. "I - just -uh-..."

I had no valid words, and the words I spewed were incoherent, only what my brain could conjure in the short seconds of time while the spotlight was beaming above me.

Analisa's light gaze now transcends into a deeper curiosity, her brows crease as I fumbled my speech. She was no fool, even if I could think of a farce in this moment, it wasn't quick enough to believe. And by the swirl in her eyes, it was just best to not dig a deeper grave.

"Speak already." she squeals.

"I got myself a toy."

"A toy, what for?"

A good night sleep or I'm excited for Italy, literally anything could have sufficed, but instead I chose to say toy. To my religious best friend, God -I mean gosh darnet. I swallow thickly, choking on more of my lies.

"A toy? Destiny-" she groans. "You know you can't have a toy while married, it is a s-"

"Sin. I know Ana, I know. But -" I curl my lips and bit down on the inner flesh of my lips to keep the words at bay. But she heard me and paused her lip gloss midway to look back at me.

Holy hell, there I go again. Opening a can of worms, digging my own grave, adding fire to the burn, all sorts of ways to describe the predicament I just walked right into. Do I say it, that I crave to be hammered by another man? what kind of dumb question is that, of course not.

"But -" she emphasized, a ghost of an annoyance in her expression.

"Uh-I-"

A soft knock on the door is what saves me from spilling a truth I'd never recover from.

"Destiny, Analisa, were ready for you."

"Be right out, Thank you." I speak to the figure on the other side.

"I don't know what is going on sweety, I am happy you're happy but please if things aren't working out just speak on them and pray."

It was hard to take her religious talk seriously while she was dressed in a vulgar piece. Cladded around her hips, the string of her thong disappears in between her ass and the rubies that sparkle on her nipples shimmer yet again as she angles her body under the light bulb. Ready to pose for the camera.

'Separate religion from work', was her way of getting through with it and depositing the large check. But that never made any sense to me.

***

She won't look at me, despite this is our pair shoot, Analisa won't even spare me a glance.

"Good, now let's have you face the back."

The side of our upper thighs touch against each other, giving our backside to the camera.

"Perfect, now turn back slightly."

The flash of the camera clicks as we delicately twist our heads, arrowing our chin upwards as to get a full view of our faces. The wind prop blows and strands of my hair is waves back.

"Excellent, pout those succulent lips."

My lips pout, my eyes haze, the camera is my best friend, and I am giving it all I have.

"Yes! beautiful" our director jumps, "Let your eyes speak for you. Let it scream come get me'

I'm nearly blinded by the reflecting diamonds dancing its reflection across my eyes.

"Alright ladies, I need you two to face each other. Your eyes mirror the glow of the diamonds, connect them, let it spark." Our director spouts. This time she has no choice. With an inhale she angles her eyes to mine, her expression flat.

For the seconds that fly by, our eyes engage, I could read her judgmental words like scripts within her orbs. Mild anger pinched through my nerves, who was she to be the only one that can call out sin? I have not forgotten she kissed me, even with the alcohol streaming in her systems, this was driven by her own actions. I exhale, hardening my soft demeanor to restore my diva, and angled my chin higher.

"Perfect Destiny, lift that chin!"

Realizing my actions, she mirrors me.

"Perfect, keep it just like that."

Click, click, click, goes the camera, the wind effects begin to shiver down my skin.

"Excellent ladies, we got the shot for this week's magazine." The room uplifts with standing ovations, yet neither Annalisa nor I blink away.

"Come on ladies let us group."

In defeat Anna huffs through the nose, at her blink I rested my expression as we both headed towards the director. The applause slowly diminishes as the crew headed cleaned and regrouped.

"Whoo." He whistles, sweat glands sparkling on his temples as he sets himself on the edge. "This today-" he gestures with a hand towards both of us. "Fantastic. The diva, the sexy and dominance. Beautiful, absolutely radiant, you two deserve to out for some drinks."

I involuntarily shivered at the consideration, mostly because we only now recovered from that traumatic night.

"Whoo-hoo, thanks Jackson, we would love to go out for some drink." He mocks us. Our silence to his good deed guts him. "C'mon ladies I don't do this often."

"Or at all at least." A worker nearby shouts.

"Thank you!" he responds.

"Drinks sounds lovely Jackson, thank you." Annalisa giggles. At the hint of her etiquette, I assumed it was now safe to join in on the fun.

"Thank you, Jackson, I will consider."

"Good. Enjoy. You ladies are still young." He ends, rising up when he paused midway. "Oh, have you all begun to pack for Italy?" he questions.

"Yes!" Annalisa beams. The two nodded and then shifted their glares to me.

The trip is less than two weeks, and of course I temporarily forgot about it, "Uh, almost done." I say in the thickened awkward tension, forcing a smile.

"Excellent! alright ladies ill still you both Monday, enjoy your weekend."

***

She sighs before wrapping her lips around the thin straw of her Apple Martini. "So, it's that bad huh?" She speaks.

"Yes. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband."

"I know you do sweety."

"But things have just been unsatisfying in the bedroom."

"Can he not stay hard or something?"

I shrugged to the question, nervous to throw my husband under the bus, but Annalisa was there before him, and she was the one who kind of pushed our relationship. Since I have started, I could not really stop.

"He can, but sometimes I feel like -"

Her head twists from the television to face me fully, her brows creased in question.

"I feel like sometimes it's like he is -- I lower my voice -- turned on by something, other than me." I cringed deeply, embarrassment takes a toll on my physical senses, waving through my streams like a flushing adrenaline.

"What do you mean?" she questions.

My eyes flapping ballistically, shifting uncomfortably on the bar stool. Forced to reopen shameful chapters, I peer left and right to the nearly empty bar before eyeing the blue haired bar- tender counting her drawers.

"He mainly only ever does two positions, and there isn't any effort he puts into it unless we mention money or his rising numbers at the company."

"What in the world?" She hissed, the scent of apples on her breath fans through my chin.

"Yes. And when we don't speak on them, he just dies down in the middle of it."

"Oh my gosh." Her interests sparking listening in on hot drama. "So that's why you initiated role play." the puzzle comes together now, and she nods absentmindedly. "How long has this been happening?"

"A year." I force, the words holding weight as it left my throat.

Her fingers quiver, and a silence stretched in between us but the news anchor on the television screen, reciting todays weather. A storm is soon approaching, and it happened to be the day we leave for Italy.

"I am so sorry I doubted you." She says grabbing my hand. "Buy a rose." she recommends, "Almost every woman has raved about it being the best toy they have ever purchased."

I bite the flesh of my inner cheek. now it is she that is giving me toy recommendations, but I feared to mention that a toy isn't what I want, rather a man that has been on my mind for the longest while. And speaking of man ...

"Oh, guess who I saw the other day?"

She cocks her head. "Brianna Yovich."

"Oh my Gosh where?"

"At the market." I say casually.

Ana scoffs, "A market, so soon? I mean she just got robbed, I would have sought therapy."

"Remember not much of her valuables were stolen. but we spoke over brunch, and she had more to say to me."

Her interest peeking as she adjusted herself on the seats.

"Apparently she knows who the thieves were."

The arched brows crease, her trembling pupils balancing between confusion and curiosity.

"The only reason she has not said anything to the police, is because she was having an affair."

"OH MY GOSH." She gusts, garnering the attention of the bar tender.

I wave dismissively, "Sorry about that, uh may I have another please?" I raise my glass. He comes around and refills my glass with a gin and tonic as a dumbfounded Annalisa eyed my side view the whole time.

"Will she need another?" he asks with a baritone chord, lazily pointing to her condensing glass.

"Probably yes."

As he rounded to the back to retrieve more ice, I gaze back to Anna, motioning a hand across her vision until she focused her eyes.

"You are joking."

"That's what she says."

"What happened to her 'husband being the greatest thing in the world." She quoted. "And she would never give her body to another?"

"It turns out, the sex isn't up to her standard."

"Well with all the Botox and lip fillers she had, who can be turned on?"

I nodded in agreement. "But this was her and her handyman. She wanted new systems, and he helped her."

"He more than helped." She laughs. "He helped himself to her."

"But then after her helped her, she felt as though there were cameras in her house."

"He installed cameras?"

"She wanted help with Siri or something like that and when he would come by, they did the deed and then he would continue his job, but she did not find out until she felt as though she was being watched in her home."

"That's eerie. So, while she wasn't looking or maybe did not understand what was happening, he must have installed them that way and watched her throughout the home."

"That's the only explanation. I thought about it for a while, cause who else would have known where all her valuables were, and when they would be out of the house?"

"Definitely well planned. But did she try and inform him?"

"I asked the same question." I say just as the bar tender returned with three large bags of Ice hung over his brawny shoulders. "But she says she gets tongue tied when he looks at her or something like that."

"Well, that's dumb? who get tongue tied just by looking at someone attractive?"

I shift awkwardly in my seat.

"I mean is she doing ok at the least?"

"She seemed alright physically, but mentally who can really recover from that overnight?"

"True. Speaking of which did you speak to Phillip about it?"

"Yes, and -" I exhale. "Just as I thought."

Gruffly she sighs, "Seriously?"

"Seriously" I added. "There is never getting through to him, in fact he was so against it he screamed."

"At you?"

"It triggered him for no apparent reason."

"Not even for the safety of his wife?"

I shrugged apathetically turning to sip my gin and ton at the rim of my glass. The bubbles of the liquor pop on my tongue before they burn down my throat, "He is beyond against it."

"Why do you think?"

"I wish I knew."